Have you ever told someone a really interesting story and, even though they listen with enthusiasm, they ask about some completely unimportant detail? Like how you went out to dinner and out of the blue saw someone you hadn't seen in years and after catching up for a bit, they offered you this amazing dream job... and they ask, "Wait... wasn't it alternate side parking that night?" I know that is frustrating because I am that guy and I see your eyes rolling.
That's one reason I get along with gemara so well. Chalal tell us (.תענית כ''ה) that R' Chanina ben Dosa's neighbors complained that his goats were causing damage. R' Chanina told them that if the goats were causing damage, they should be eaten by wolves. If, however, they were not causing problems, then when the goats return home that evening, they each be carrying a wolf on their horns. They came back that night each carrying a wolf on their horns.
Pretty amazing story, no? What's your first response? Surprise that R' Chanina provided such dramatic evidence? Inspired, perhaps, that R' Chanina asked for a miracle? Well, Chazal have a different reaction. (1) R' Chanina was very poor, how did he get a herd of goats? (2) Besides, you aren't allowed to raise goats in Eretz Yisrael! (See why I get along with gemara so well?)
Aside: In case you didn't know, the Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 409:1 says that one is not allowed to raise sheep/goats/etc (thin legged animals) in Eretz Yisroel because the tend to graze in other people's fields and frequently cause damage.
Just to further enhance my nerd standing, I pulled out the appropriate volume of my Shulchan Aruch set and opened it right to the correct siman -- because I have photocopies of a tshuva from a modern day posek about the permissibility of raising sheep in Eretz Yisroel nowadays. I have that because I asked R' Fuerst many, many years ago about this halacha when I first learned the gemara and the dayan sent me photocopies from a couple of s'farim he has on the topic. How cool is that?
The gemara answers that they were not R' Chanina's goats. Someone had forgotten and lost a chicken outside R' Chanina's house and his wife found it. R' Chanina told her not to eat the chicken nor the forthcoming eggs nor the forthcoming chickens. Chickens are a mess, so they sold them and bought goats. When the chicken owner returned, R' Chanina explained what happened and gave him his goats.
That's the end of the gemara's explanation. Notice something missing? Now I know how he got goats, but what about the prohibition to raise goats in Eretz Yisroel? Especially since he started with chickens, why would he buy goats which are prohibited to raise in Eretz Yisroel?
Why not buy cows and avoid the whole issue? I asked Gemini about raising goats vs cows and discovered: Generally speaking, goats are often considered easier and less expensive to raise than cows, especially for beginners or those with limited space and resources. Moreover, their smaller size and better temperament makes them easier to manage.
I found two explanations. The Maharsha says that a later editor of the gemara inserted the chicken part. In reality, it was a goat that was lost. The Ein Yaakov says the prohibition is to raise goats, but not to keep them. R' Chanina ben Dosa simply bought goats that someone else had raised. Either way, we see that keeping goats seems to be fine. Seems a bit like a loophole, no?
No. In fact the t'shuva that R' Fuerst sent me (משפטי התורה סימן עה) says that the halacha allows one to raise goats on a kibbutz that has its own private fields. A moshav cannot raise goats, but they can keep them, as long as they are kept in their pens and grazed only on public/ownerless fields.
How cool is that?
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